VANCOUVER COAST & MOUNTAIN

he

Upper Shannon Falls Trail used to be a sleepy hike

ignored by most visitors to Stawamus Chief Provincial Park.

Over the past year, however, this path has drawn a stampede
of hikers and trail runners to its waterfalls and viewpoints overlooking
Howe Sound.
Thats because it is now part of the Sea to Summit Trail, Squamishs
answer to the crowded Grouse Grind on Vancouvers North Shore. In
three to five hours, hikers ascend 918 metres over 8.9 kilometres, from
the base of the new Sea to Sky Gondola to its top.
Stphane Perron works as lead guide and trail patroller for the
$22-million gondola, which opened on May 16, 2014. He is also
president of the Squamish Trails Society, and so meets many of these
hikers as part of his work.

You can always tell someone who has just come up the Sea to
Summit Trail, Perron says. Theyll usually be either quite sweaty or
muddy or sometimes with a dog. Thats the other clue, because thats
the only trail where youre allowed dogs.
Though just in its second year of operation, the Sea to Sky Gondola
has already become a major draw for adventure lovers in a municipality
widely considered as the Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada.
Lying between the granite cliffs of the Stawamus Chief and Shannon
Falls, the gondola rises from its base off the Sea to Sky Highway to an
elevation of 885 metres on the ridge northwest of Mount Habrich. Its a
glorious 10-minute ride in one of the eight-passenger cabins.
Up top, visitors will find the Summit Lodge, with its restaurant, bar,
caf, gift shop and patio. A 100-metre-long, 65-metre-high suspension

FROM

SEA

to

Squamish Harbour
and Sky Pilot
Suspension Bridge.
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SEA TO SKY TRAIL

by stephen hui

bridge between two viewing decks offers stunning vistas of Sky Pilot
Mountain and Howe Sound. Two easy walking loops are close at hand,
with one leading to a viewing platform facing the Stawamus Chief and
Atwell Peak.
The gondola provides access to eight hiking trails in summer and
five snowshoeing trails in winter. Two newly developed rock-climbing
areas, Kletter Garden and Wrinkle Rock, lie minutes away from the
upper terminal. There is also a snow tube park.
u

SUMMIT
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VANCOUVER COAST & MOUNTAIN

esley Weeks, executive director of
Tourism Squamish, says the Sea to Sky
Gondola has made the mountains more
accessible to people of all ages and abilities.
She took her parents, who are both in their
70s, and her three-year-old son on the
Wonderland Lake Loop, a 1.6-kilometre hike.
There is no way I would be able to get
my parents and young son up into the
alpine to experience the views and trails
without having the Sea to Sky Gondola for
access, Weeks says. It is so fantastic to see
multiple generations out enjoying the trails
together.
For Perrons part, his favourite hike at
the gondola is Als Habrich Ridge Trail. This
11.6-kilometre round trip takes hikers over
rocky ground and through forest, paying off
with grand Squamish Valley views.
Its not too technically difficult, Perron
says. You get rewards early on. It doesnt
really matter how far you get. You will have
a rewarding time. And you can go for a long
time if you want.
Meanwhile, the Skyline Ridge Trail is the
lengthiest hike so far available to gondola
visitors. Involving a 19-kilometre round trip,
this trail heads up the ridge between the Sky
Pilot massif and Goat Ridge. Future plans call
for it to be linked with the Sky Pilot Valley Trail,
currently a 10-kilometre round trip, to form an
epic alpine loop.
The Skyline Ridge Trail features several
alpine lakes known as tarns.
Its not technical, so you dont need any
special skills. This truly is just a hike. But its my
second choice, because you need a full day to
enjoy that one, Perron says
For mountaineers and ski tourers, the
gondola has made it easier to access the
backcountry around Goat Ridge, Mount
Habrich and Sky Pilot Mountain.
Its really been about access, Weeks says.
Before the gondola, it would have taken
hours to reach some of the backcountry
currently being explored.
Last September, the Coast Mountain Trail
Series put on its Sky Pilot race at the gondola.
The running competition returns this year
on Sept. with challenging 14-kilometre and
22-kilometre routes.

Trevor Dunn, general manager

and founding partner of Sea to Sky
Gondola Corporation, the past year represents
a sensational start. He says hes proud that the
gondola is helping people to see the Sea to
or

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WILD COAST MAGAZINE

Paul Bride photo/Tourism Squamish

The summit lodge.

Sky corridor in a whole new light.

Dunn says the company had projected
between 200,000 and 300,000 visits in its first
year and is ahead of that.
In May, the gondola kicked off its second
summer season. Day tickets cost $35.95 for
adults, $33.95 for seniors, $23.95 for youths,
and $13.95 for children age 6-12. There is a
$2 discount for tickets bought online, and
kids five and under are free.
Summer-season passes cost $109 for
adults and $274 for families of two adults and
two children.
Dunn promises that a new via ferrata
(Italian for iron road) will offer adventure
seekers quite a thrilling experience.
With a fixed cable and built-in aids, this
route will allow people without climbing
experience to clamber up the rocks
below the Summit Lodge and over to the
suspension bridge for an elevation gain
of 100 metres. Like the one on Whistler
Mountain, the gondolas via ferrata will
be offered as a guided tour involving an
additional fee.
Basically, it gives the experience of rock
climbing without the risk of falling, Dunn says.
Youre continually tied into a fixed line.
While there are currently no mountain
biking trails at the gondola, that could change
in 2016 as the company enters the early
planning stages for routes.
One of the things that we know is that
Squamish is one of the world-class mountainbike destinations, and if you do anything, you
have to make sure it is world-class, Dunn says.
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So we want to make sure that we are able to

do that.
One problem is deciding where the
mountain-biking trails would be located.
We definitely want to make sure that, if
we do it, that we put it in a place that makes
sense for all different users, so were not
having conflicts with hikers or walkers, he
says. All those factors have to be built into the
plan.

2011, the Sea to Sky

Gondola stirred controversy after it came
to light that its developers had applied to
remove a 2.36-hectare strip from Stawamus
Chief Provincial Park. After the legislature
passed a bill rejigging the boundaries of the
park in 2012, the B.C. Liberal government
redesignated the 20-metre-wide gondola
corridor as the Stawamus Chief Protected
Area.
The gondolas base sits on private
property, and the upper-terminal area
lies on Crown land outside the park. The
Squamish Nation, Squamish-Lillooet
Regional District and District of Squamish
also approved the project before
construction began in 2013.
B.C. Parks has installed trail counters and
observed some changes in the usage of
Stawamus Chief Provincial Park since the
gondola opened. While many more hikers are
ascending the Upper Shannon Falls Trail, as
part of the Sea to Summit Trail, slightly less are
going up the back of the Chief, though this
remains a popular hike.
roposed in

SEA TO SKY TRAIL

ALPINE
HIKES #1

The Sea to Sky Trail

The ministry also reports that visitors are

parking in the park parking lots for longer
periods. Parking at the gondola base is limited
to three hours. The gondolas overflow lot
across the highway from Shannon Falls
Provincial Park accommodates longer-term
parking but requires a 10-minute walk or a
shuttle to the base.
Meanwhile, Perron believes that the
gondola will attract trail builders from
Vancouver, Squamish, and Whistler, which
could eventually result in the construction of
a hiking trail connecting the North Shore and
Squamish.
In Cypress Provincial Park, the Howe Sound
Crest Trail already stretches 29 kilometres from
the Cypress Mountain ski area to just south of
Porteau Cove Provincial Park, located south
of Squamish along the Sea to Sky Highway.
Perron would like to see this rugged trail

extended north to the top of the gondola.

It would be quite a project, Perron says.
The Howe Sound Crest Trail is indeed one
continuous crest. To bring it all the way there
to Squamish, it does indeed have to go down
some significant valleys at Britannia and Furry

Creek, for instance. But I know Im not the only

one who has thought of this.

Waters Dancing

Stephen Hui is a journalist, photographer,

and hiker living in Vancouver. Follow him on
Twitter and Instagram: @stephenhui.

www.watersdancing.com

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